Scuba diving, as it is generally practiced today, utilizes one or more tanks of compressed oxygen which are strapped to the back of the swimmer. These systems require heavy, bulky equipment which make mobility difficult both in and out of the water. This invention eliminates the use of large storage tanks and uses an electrolytic oxygen generator.
The principles of electrolysis for oxygen generation have long been known. Electrolysis involves the splitting of compounds, such as water, into ionic-charged components of hydrogen and hydroxyl parts. These ions carrying, respectively. positive and negative charges, are known as cations and anions. The cations and anions are induced to migrate in an electrolytic cell under the influence of an electric potential impressed between an anode and a cathode so that the negative ions (the anions) are attracted to the anode and the positive ions (the cations) are attracted to the cathode. In order to provide a high concentration of ions of a low electrical resistance the electrolyte comprises a solution of water and sulfuric acid. In lieu of sulfuric acid, other electrolytes, such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, are also used.
Prior efforts have been made in the past to generate oxygen by electroylsis for underwater swimming. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,669 to Albert uses a vest-type apparatus in which electrodes are spaced. But this system does not take into account the effect of body attitude, i.e., it makes no provision for supplying oxygen to the mask when the swimmer is diving.
Other patents showing the use of electrolysis for generating oxygen are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,119,759, 3,616,436, 3,565,068, 3,674,022, 2,984,607, 3,216,919 and 3,725,236.